The Vascular Medicine and Endovascular Medicine Rotation at UConn Health is based at Calhoun Cardiovascular Center. Fellows completes a one-month rotation. They participating in outpatient clinics, interventional procedures, and inpatient consults.
Fellows participates in the vascular medicine clinic two half-days a week. They care for patients with peripheral arterial and venous disease. Typical patients include those with claudication, limb-threatening ischemia, leg edema due to venous obstruction or insufficiency, and renal vascular hypertension. Fellows also take care of patients in the hospital who are in need of urgent or emergent diagnostic/interventional procedures such as catheter based therapy for acute massive or submassive pulmonary embolism, catheter based thrombetomy for critical limb ischemia, and catheter based thrombectemy for acute deep vein thrombosis.
The Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at UConn Health has a state of the art hybrid lab and catheterization lab for the evaluation and management of peripheral arterial and venous disease. We have an Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) accredited vascular laboratory. Many of our fellows qualify for Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation® (RPVI®) Certification after they read the requisite number of studies and pass the exam.
Specific Goals and Objectives of the Vascular Medicine Clinic Rotation
- Be knowledgeable and competent in the process of taking thorough clinical history and performing comprehensive vascular physical examination. Understand how to evaluate the patient with common vascular complaints including leg edema, claudication, and aneurysmal disease
- Understand the indications for peripheral endovascular angiography and interventional procedures
- Able to calculate an ankle brachial index, interpret a carotid and arterial duplex ultrasound, and interpret a venous duplex for deep venous thrombosis and venous reflux disease
- Learn how to identify a patient with critical limb ischemia and refer him or her a vascular interventionist
- Learn to identify and treat acute venous thromboembolism with medical or catheter based therapy for acute pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis
- Learn to identify the causes and treatment of refractory leg edema. Understand therapeutic options such as conservative management, venous ablation, and venous stenting
- Know the complications and risks of invasive and interventional peripheral procedures
- Be able to interpret basic peripheral angiography
- Learn to effectively identify and risk stratify high cardiovascular risk patients, who present with critical limb ischemia
- Learn to optimize medical therapy in the long-term care and management of patients with peripheral artery disease, in an effort to prevent future cardiovascular events in this high-risk population.